Posed To Death
by Therru Li
Summary: "I'm a murderer. A bloody monster." The Course is a last ditch chance at life. Through death. Will Allie, Blue and the team survive?
1. Chapter 1

**An original story with some similarities to the Hunger Games.**

**Title from the The Faint's song - Posed To Death. I just thought it was really cool :)**

**Nia and Allie are based on people in real life. No one else is.**

**I really enjoyed writing this so I hope you'll like it :D**

Chapter 1

There are six of us. All here for the same here; we're hungry. So very hungry...

Everyone knows about the Course. All the mothers and fathers threaten to send their children here when they're bad. When the won't make their bed, or do the dishes. Only the heartless drunkards do though. The ones with hearts like shadows, and no morals. People like our parents.

"What happens now?" asks a timid 8 year old called Joel, looking down at his shoes. He reminds me a bit of a red squirrel, impossibly small, and sporting a spectacular mop of red hair. He's the youngest here, by far. What bastard sent him here? Makes me want to slap someone.

"Dunno, little guy," says a taller girl with dark skin. Her nametag says Debbie. "You okay? Your parents send you here?"

He looks up, and there's an audible gasp from the group.

"Oh my God. What horrible, horrible person _did_ this to you?" says Nia, grabbing him into a hug.

Joel's face is mess of bleeding cut and purple bruises. He's been beat up bad. His eyes, though swollen, are bloodshot and red rimmed, tears streaming down his face.

"My dad." His whisper is barely audible. He bursts into silent weeping, burrowing into Nia, his body convulsing with his sobs.

I sit down.

"Why?" I ask no-one in particular. I hug my knees and close my eyes. "Why?"

"Oi, guys. Come here!" yells a boy called Blue. "You gonna sit here and wait to die? Like cowards? Huh?"

I raise my head, but don't get up. Why should I? Nia slopes over to him with Debbie and another boy whose name I don't know. Blue quickly talks with them and with them and walks over to me, hand extended.

"C'mon girl. We gotta stick together if we wanna get through this. Think of all the food we'll get at the end!"

"It's not bloody worth it! I have to put _my _life on the line to feed my stepfather's fat arse! Huh? Why? WHY?" I square up to him and look straight down on him. He stumbles back in fear at my unexpected outburst. "Tell me why. TELL ME! WHY?"

I sink to the floor, still screaming. No words now though, just pure misery. When I stop, a gentle hand wraps around my shoulder and pulls me slowly to my feet.

I properly look at him for the first time. His watery blue eyes and grubby face are deep with concern and his dark hands are resting on the white skin of my shoulders.

"I don't need your sympathy." I shrug his hands off my shoulders and walk away from him.

"C'mon Allie. We need to make a plan."

I turn around and offer him a mock salute. "Whatever you say, Mr Leader." I walk back to the group with him, trying to act like I hadn't just had a mental breakdown, I didn't just scare Joey shitless, that no-one is looking at me like I'm a freak.

Which they are. Debbie, Nia and the boy start staring at me, open mouthed.

"Guys, guys... What are we here for? The Course. Okay? The harsh truth is, we're gonna die if we don't make a plan and keep together. Josh?"

The boy jumps. "Hmm?"

"Get your arse back down to Earth. What were you thinking?"

Josh goes bright red. "Nothing..."

Blue bursts out laughing. "Nothing, huh? I know that look, dude. We don't need that right now."

Josh shuffles his feet, the perfect picture of a boy caught in the act. Debbie nudges me and Nia and we burst into fits of giggles. Blue grins at me and suddenly I'm the happiest I've ever been. I forget about the Course. About my stepfather. But there's still that horrible voice.

_You can't get too attatched Allie. These people aren't your friends. They're cannon fodder. Tools to help you survive._

"How long have we got 'til we have to go?" I ask, trying to cut off the voice.

"45 minutes – ish?" Debbie answers, looking back at the clock.

We're in a dark, dirty basement, looking in dread at the door. In three quarters of an hour we're all going out there to pretty much certain death.

The Course. Where you go if there's nowhere to go. When there's no more food left to eat. Or if you're heartless, and want to trade your kids for some grub. Nobody will send their children here if they love them. They'd rather starve.

_Snakes, arrows, spears, or being turned slowly into the Undead! Come send your child to almost certain death! And if they don't die,we guarantee they'll be driven mad for the rest of their lives!_

I sigh bitterly.

"Anyone good at anything?" Blue pleads.

Shrugs.

"I'm pretty good with knives..." Nia mumbles, running her hands through her hair.

"I'll hunt." I say.

"Good." Blue leans in. "We need to look after Joel too. If anything happens to him, I don't think I'd be able to look at myself ever again."

There's a chorus of nods and murmurs of sympathy.

"Quarter of an hour left, guys."

"Shit. I can't do this." Blue drags his hands down his face and leans into the wall.

"Hey." I walk over to him.

He turns around and looks at me like there's nothing left to live for. I've seen that look before. Many, many times.

"Look, we don't need this. _I _don't need this. You have to be strong, Blue. Be our leader, or God knows what'll happen to us. Stop being a pussy. We're all going through this together."

"You really think so? But I can't take care of all these kids! I'm only a bloody kid myself!"

"What other options do we have?"

"Yeah, I guess so..." He smiles weakly at me. "God, I'm a twat sometimes."

We laugh and go back to the group, trying to take our mind off our impending doom.

**^^ Hopefully I can keep both my stories up, but at the moment this one is the priority.**


	2. Chapter 2

**FOURTH time trying to upload this cursed chapter! HELVETE, vad i van sker? (for Swedish readers ;p, was that right?) Don'y forget to comment! :D**

**Also, do you guys want me to continue my Dead Island FanFic? I dunno, I know that over the summer holidays I will be doing a lot more writing. 'Cause right now frankly, typing up all of this shit takes a long time... SHIT IS A BAD WORD DON'T USE IT. Sorry, Olga Kay reference, don't mind me...**

**But enough of me and my random ADHD (holy shookers I wrote a lot of crap) ramblings, here is, finally, CHAPTER TWO!**

**Chapter 2**

**Blue's POV **

Clicks. Whirrings. The sound of metal grinding against metal. The door opens.

"We've gotta go."

"No."

"Guys, the doors opened."

"No."

_The Course is ready for you now._

"No, no, no..."

"Joey, we have to go. Now."

"NOOOOOO! I won't! I _can't._"

"Joey, I promise I will protect you. I swear on my life."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise."

He sniffles and we walk out the door without another word.

* * *

We walk out of the room and onto a yellow platform. Another round of clicks and mechanical noises and the platform is moving ever so slowly up.

The first thing that hits you is the sheer heat of the air. The second, the fact that millions of insects are trying to eat you. Everyone is slapping at their skin, trying to dislodge the tiny bloodsuckers.

"Already?" Nia says jokingly. "I thought they would leave the man-eaters for the grand finale!"

Everyone laughs nervously. Though I notice Josh is laughing embarrassingly louder that everyone else.

Wonder why.

"Shit!" Debbie jumps up and starts shaking her arm like a maniac. There's a large spider on it. Kinda hard to miss.

"Kill it! It'll bite someone!"

Allie's on it, crushing it under the heel of her boot.

"The Course isn't gonna go easy on us just because we're new. Be CAREFUL!" Allie scolds, looking at each of us in turn. "Now, Leader Man. What we gonna do now?"

"Uhh..." I stutter.

"What?" Allie smirks at me. "Cat got your tongue?"

I stare at her.

"Or temporarily brain damaged?"

The girls start giggling behind her. She steps back, stumbles on to Nia and Debbie, and the three of them collapse on to the ground laughing hysterically.

"I'll never understand girls..." says Josh, looking at them with raised eyebrows.

"Tell me about it!" I sigh.

When the girls have recovered, everyone seems to regain their sense of urgency.

"Debbie, you okay? You didn't get bitten?"

"Nah, I'm fine. What we need to worry about now is what we're gonna do next..."

"Good point. BLUE?" Nia yells across. "What now?"

"I guess we walk and find somewhere to rest for the night."

"Right. C'mon Joel!" Debbie says, hoisting him up, and putting him on her shoulders. "You're really light! A scrap of a human being!"

Joel giggles slightly and we set off, treading cautiously.

* * *

Finding a place for camp wasn't so hard. The difficulty was building a lean to big enough for all of us.

Debbie starts coughing violently and loudly.

"You okay?" Josh asks, "You don't look so good..."

"If you're sure..."

"Have a sit down, then. Rest'll do you you good." says Nia, walking over and kneeling next to Debbie.

"Yeah."

"You okay? Allie's going to go hunting in a sec I think."

She turns around. "HEY! Allie?"

"Yeah?" Allie yells back, fastening some twigs together next to me.

"You going hunting? Can I come with?"

Allie looks back, drops all the weight onto me and walks over to Nia and the group. Joey, seeing that I'm in trouble, runs over to help. As you can imagine, an eight year old diving on top of me doesn't make the job any easier. The massive structure collapses.

"Oops." He looks at the broken branches in dismay, biting his lower lip.

"Don't worry, little guy. We can build it again." I say, looking at the wreck and dying inside.

"You twats can rebuild that. I'm going hunting." Allie flounces off, Nia close behind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Nia's POV**

"He likes you, y'know."

We've been walking in an uncomfortable silence for over an hour now, setting traps and scavenging for food.

"Huh?"

"Josh."

"What about Josh?"

"He likes you."

I stop, turn around and look at Allie.

"Josh likes... _me_."

"Yeah."

"Oh shit."

Allie laughs. "You two are freaking made for each other. Get married already!"

"Oh my God, Allie, don't..." I throw a nut at her head.

"Oi! That could have blinded me!"

I burst into fits of giggles, which last too long to be healthy.

"How do you know?" I ask, still wiping away tears of mirth.

"Isn't it obvious? The way he acts around you is freaking hilarious."

"Uh, wow. I mean I haven't even had a proper conversation with him yet..."

"Oh, who cares? It would be so adorable!"

I study her expression for a while. "You're acting strange."

She squints at me. "How so?"

"You're different."

"Vague much? I'm different. Yeah?"

"You seem more... relaxed than before. Like before, with Blue and the others, you were acting all hard and shouty. Now you're... different."

She laughs. "I have no idea what you just said."

I roll my eyes. "Soooo..."

"So?

I stick my tongue my tongue out at her. "So stop slacking!"

We laugh and start picking out more food.

And so the long nights begin. The worst ones are when you have to stay on watch, in front of the lean-to, in the unforgiving rain. But I look at Joey, sleeping so peacefully, and the world doesn't seem so pointless anymore. A week. That's how long we've been at this damn camp, slowly starving.

"What _wonderous _treats have you brought us?" Blue asks sarcastically.

"Shut it, you twat." Allie pushes him playfully and dumps the spoils onto the ground in front of us.

"That it?"

"You try and collect a feast from a bloody forest."

Debbie stumbles over and I look at her in horror. She looks like an alien, with yellow-grey skin and blood-shot eyes. She sways and leans one hand on to a tree, mumbling unintelligibly.

"What?" Joey asks.

"I said, I'll put my toys away later, Mum..."

Allie and Blue exchange looks. Without a word, they both take Debbie and lay her gently in the lean-to. Blue goes to talk to Josh.

"Is she going to die?" asks Joey, his eyes wide and filling with tears.

"Not if I can help it." Allie says, pulling him into a tight hug.

She goes and sit next to the dying Debbie. "Shit..."

She picks up her limp hand. In the middle of her arms are two deep puncture wounds. Her hands are cold and grey, and running down her arms are crimson veins, poison coursing through them.

"SHIT! BLUE! Come here!"

He jogs over and crouches beside Allie. He whistles when he sees her. "The spider bit her?"

"Yeah."

He puts an arm around her shoulder and squeezes it gently.

"What now?"

"Nia? Josh? Any ideas?"

After looking quickly at her, I shakily speak.

"I think I know what it is... Well, I've only ever seen it once. My friend's mother was a doctor." I stutter, hiccuping slightly. "There was this one guy, bitten by a spider like the one that bit Debbie... She said it... It..."

I look down.

"It turned him into one of the Undead."


	4. Chapter 4

MY PHONE IS BROKEN... . (My story is on there!) NAAAAAWWWWW!

**Chapter 4**

**Allie's POV**

"We have to kill her." Nia says.

"What! NO!" I step between her Debbie.

"What other options do we have?" Nia asks.

"She's right." says Josh, going to stand behind her.

"You have no right." Blue stands protectively behind me.

Nia reaches down her socks and pulls out a large throwing knife.

"Shit, crazy girl's got a blade!" Blue yells, stumbling back slightly.

I reach in my pack, scrabbling frantically for means to defend myself and Debbie. I pull out a small meat knife, and point it straight at her.

"You do not come near me with that thing."

"Guys, calm the hell DOWN!" Blue yells.

"Bitch is pointing a knife at me!"

"She wants to kill Debbie!"

"Oh Christ." Blue steps in front of me and holds his hands in the air.

"Get. Out. Of. My Way." Nia snarls. "You're going to get us all killed."

"I will not."

"I would if I were you..." Josh says, looking at Nia in amazement.

"Fine."

She brings her arm back and hurls her knife straight at me and Blue. Blue dives on top of me with a yelp and the knife finds it's target. Debbie.

Nia holds her hands over her mouth. "What have I..."

"DEBBIE!" I scream, running over to her.

She looks at me, tears streaming down her face, a drip of blood running down her chin.

"It's in your lung. I'm so sorry Debbie... So sorry." I sob.

"I'm sorry... too... Mum..." She chokes, and dies in my arms.

"Oh my..."

"YOU!" I shriek, spitting at her. "YOU KILLED HER! You threw a knife and you killed her! You... I hope you're bloody happy now. All your dreams have come true. Go to hell."

She shakes her head, sobbing, eyes glued on the blossom of blood on Debbie's chest. Then she runs as fast as she can away, Josh chasing her.

I collapse into Blue's arms and we stay there for what seems like hours... It doesn't matter anymore. The world consists of only me, Blue and Joey's shrieks of pure misery.

"We have to bury her." I lean back and look into Blue's eyes.

"I'll dig a grave. You go sort out Joey." He walks away and I look longingly at him, wishing I was still safe in his arms...

I shake my head in disgust and go over to Joey.

"Why didn't you save her? You promised me."

"I couldn't Joey, you know I couldn't."

"You should have saved her. You're meant to be strong and brave... But you let her die. She was nice to me..."

"Joey please, don't..."

"Where'd the other girl go?"

"I don't know. I don't care, I hope I never see her again."

"Why did she kill Debbie? Why did she have to die?" he sobs, burrowing into me.

"I don't know, Joey." I say, letting the tears break free, and hugging him tighter. "I'm so sorry, so so sorry..."

We covered her body with flowers and lowered her slowly into the grave. Joey clung onto me, silent tears streaming down his face.

"She's in a better place now, Joey. Away from this." I gesture vaguely to the world around us, sighing.

Blue starts shovelling dirt onto Debbie's body. I can't cope anymore. I jump up and I run away.

Away from Debbie.

Away from Joey.

Away from the Course.

And away from Blue.


	5. Chapter 5

**Fooping FINALLY! I have a new phone now, and it's red. AWESOME. Hopefully you can expect regular chapters from now on.**

**Chapter 5**

**Nia's POV**

"Why did I have to kill her?" I weep, tears seeping through my hands and splashing onto the ground. I sit there for ages, just crying, realising the enormity of what I've done. I've killed Debbie, estranged myself from the group and ultimately killed myself. Now my chance of survival is zero.

"Hey." A cold hand on my shoulder. I yelp and swing around on the stranger, knife out.

It's Josh.

He pulls me into a hug, and I take it gladly, knife dropping to the floor.

"I killed her, Josh."

"I know."

I shrug out of his arms and stare at him, my eyes blurry with tears.

"What do you want from me? I killed Debbie. I'm a murderer. A bloody monster. Come to kill me? Tell me to kill myself? Because believe me, I was going to do that anyway."

He looks shocked for a moment. "Kill yourself? But you can't... I..."

"Let's face facts. I'm gonna die anyway. Go back to the others."

"No. Listen-"

"No. YOU listen. I don't need you. Just go." I point back in the direction he came.

He looks at me sadly, and trudges back where I'm pointing.

I finally find what I'm looking for. Deathcap mushrooms. I take a handful and look at them. They don't look deadly, but I know they are. One bite and I could end all of this. One little bite.

_You should die. You killed Debbie. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. You deserve it._

Tears streaming down my face, I take a little bite. Before long, my vision punches me in the face and I black out.


End file.
